NEWPORT, R.I. – The Curry College baseball saw its season come to an end on Sunday afternoon, dropping two games in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Tournament at Reynolds Field. The Colonels dropped the opening game 6-2 to Salve Regina and then fell to Nichols by a final of 6-4. Curry concludes the season with a 15-20 overall record and a 10-6 mark in the CCC.
Game One: Salve Regina 6, Curry 2
The Seahawks got on the board in the bottom of the second, thanks to a one-run single by Dylan Ketch (Clinton, Conn.). The base knock scored Alex Perry (No. Attleboro, Mass.) to put Salve Regina up 1-0.
Ketch was back in the action in the sixth when he contributed an RBI groundout to second which sent Zack Smith (New Canaan, Conn.). The Seahawks went up 2-0 on the play.
Salve Regina continued to extend its lead in the seventh, increasing the lead to 4-0. John Militano (Miller Place, N.Y.) got the frame's scoring started with a one-run triple to score Brody Santilli (Lincoln, R.I.). The Seahawks would manufacture another run in the frame by way of a sacrifice fly to right by Colton Eremian (Boca Raton, Fla.).
Salve Regina would tally two more runs in the contest, both coming in the eighth. Perry scored on a wild pitch and then Hunter Sleeper (Arlington, Mass.) hit a sacrifice fly of his own to center to plate Ketch to increase the lead to 6-0.
The Colonels were able to get on the scoreboard in the ninth, tallying two runs. John Cave (Tewksbury, Mass.) got things started with a one-run double to score Mitchell Carvalho (Cranston, R.I.). Alex McLean (Eliot, Maine) registered a single to plate Cave as Curry fell by the 6-2 final.
Perry led the Seahawks with three hits in four appearances. He also scored two runs. Ketch was the only other Salve Regina student-athlete with multiple hits as he finished with two. Three others had hits to round out the offensive output.
McLean, Cave and Tyler Jenkins (East Bridgewater, Mass.) paced the Colonels with two hits each. Justin Cage (Glendora, Calif.) and Jared Keller (Oxford, Conn.) tallied a hit apiece to close that column for Curry.
CCC Rookie of the Year Patrick Maybach (Saunderstown, R.I.) improved to 7-0 on the season after tossing seven innings of shutout ball. He gave up six hits while striking out six and walking two. Zach Dionne (Tolland, Conn.) closed out the final two innings of action. He surrendered two runs on two hits. The sophomore struck out three and walked two to preserve the victory.
David Griffin (Hanover, Mass.) was credited with the loss on the hill for the Colonels. The junior went seven innings while giving up four runs on six hits. He set down four via strikeout and walked four. Matt Hailey (Weymouth, Mass.) entered the contest in relief and threw the final inning. He gave up two runs on two hits while striking out one and walking two.
Game Two: Nichols 6, Curry 4
Nichols opened the scoring in the fourth, as they tallied two runs. Joe Assenza (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) got things started with a one-run single that scored Kyle Bouchard (Fall River, Mass.). Christian Naccari (Ossining, N.Y.) followed with an RBI single of his own to plate Tim Ford (Stafford Springs, Conn.) to put the Bison up 2-0.
Curry cut the deficit in half in their half of the fourth. McLean stepped to the plate and hit his second round tripper of the season. More importantly, the Colonels only trailed by one, 2-1 after the play.
Nichols sent the lead back to two (3-1) in the fifth when Nick Roy (Middletown, Conn.) scored on a passed ball.
The Colonels put up another run in the seventh, thanks to an RBI double by McLean. The two base hit sent Matt Fogarty (Millis, Mass.). That run made it a 3-2 game with two innings of regulation remaining.
The Bison increased its lead in the ninth by way of a three-run home run by Matt Hardy (North Attleboro, Mass.). The home run put Nichols up 6-2 with one half inning of regulation left.
Curry put up one last rally in the bottom of the ninth, tallying two runs. A single by Cage that plated Cave cut the Nichols lead to 6-3. Vincent LoPriore (Boston, Mass.) would later reach on a fielder's choice and that play allowed McLean to score to make it a 6-4 final score.
McLean, Cage and Cave led the way for the Colonels with two hits apiece. Roy, Bouchard and Assenza each had multiple hits for Nichols.
Danny Hayden (East Greenwich, R.I.) was credited with the win on the hill for the Bison. He tossed six innings, giving up one run on three hits. The sophomore struck out seven and walked two for his seventh win of the year.
Fogarty picked up the loss on the mound, going seven and one-third innings. He gave up three runs on nine hits while striking out four and walking three.
With the two losses, Curry has been eliminated from the CCC Tournament and sees their season come to an end. Nichols looks to stave off elimination on Monday in a rematch with Salve Regina at 12:30 p.m. in CCC Tournament play.
